Daddy, what happens when one of two opposing parties decides that deterrence has failed?UPDATE 1855 EST 5 MAR 2010: By the comments, I was clearly too cryptic in my question above. The context is current domestic US politics, and a clearer statement of the issue follows:
Given that
- the leadership of the current Federal government does not appear to be interested in the election outcomes of its members (i.e., deterrence via the ballot box has failed),
- the history of the past 77 years suggests strongly that there is zero deterrent power held by the American people against Constitutional violations, and
- there are currently hundreds of thousands (maybe millions?) of Americans who will not be pushed any further,
is there any reason not to believe that we as a fragmenting country are at the same point the Cold War adversaries would have been had the US and USSR started to fuel their liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles during a crisis?
Why sweetie, the male bovine biologically reduced alfalfa hits the rotary cooling device.
ReplyDeleteWow, that picture takes me back.... A SCAPE (Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble) and a Titan missile.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. Takes this SAC crew dog back.
There are three elements to credible deterrence:
ReplyDelete1.) A survivable second strike capability (so you can always guarantee retaliation)
2.) The political will to actually launch if attacked.
3.) Rational leadership.
We've still got #1 with our SSBMs. We've long ago lost #2 in America, and the current crop of nuclear threats aren't even close to #3.
Which brings us to the problem of today...
Aside from the inherent dark humor, what prompts this question?
ReplyDeleteAs for an answer, the best scenario, I think, is a variation on the, unfortunately short-lived, Jericho series.
We get nuked…
The Wretched Dog
Ed:
ReplyDeleteNow pls apply that analysis to the internal political situation.
Does the answer change?
the power of deterrence was in the power of the purse. it was given away.
ReplyDeleteWW never actually said "i have unwittingly ruined my country." in fact, he seems to have been rather proud of it.
Friend, you will find yourself on a polluted tributary without means of locomotion.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are right you are right.
ReplyDeleteI will see what I can do to increase our capability to deliver unpleasantness to our potential opponents.
But as Mike put it in the Absolved Chapter Interposition.
"Liberals have no deeply-held principles that they will not compromise if pushed, so they don't understand people who will fight and die rather than compromise. I guess that's what made the war inevitable. We'd been warning 'em for years, but they never thought we'd put our lives on the line just because they never had the guts to. They figured that if the federal government told us to do somethin' then, by God, we'd have to give in, whereas we knew that when push came to shove, we, by God, would NEVER give in...that they'd have to kill us first. And you know what? A man who's willing to die for his country is 99 times out of 100 a man who will kill for it too. And THAT was a part of the equation those pointy-headed liberals never counted on."
They may simply be to stupid to think outside their own world view.
So scaring them into thinking may be off the table.
No extra comment was necessary.
ReplyDeleteI got it thie morning, but didn't comment.
Perhaps a picture of a jet flying into WTC1 is more appropriate.
HealthCare is just a vehicle. An airliner-a means to an end. They've hijacked the controls. We're the passengers.
Is it time to roll?
Do you understand yet?
Eric
III
Funny you bring that up. I was just thinking that yesterday. We ARE in a Cold War right now and it's quickly deteriorating into a Cuban Missle Crisis.
ReplyDelete